That Others May Live
by Steak and a Spud
Summary: Titus Cassius has been a soldier all his life. But after twenty long years, his retirement is looming on the horizon. However, he has one more assignment to complete. When a dragon attacks, Titus will have to make a choice that might be his last.


Titus Cassius had always been a soldier, at least that's what all the young recruits thought. He had been too young for the Great War, but he had still seen his fair share. Most of his friends had retired now, and he was to soon join them. Titus had one last mission, however, one last obstacle from his beautiful lakeside house he had saved up his entire life for. Arianna, his faithful wife through all the years, had already secured the deed. All that was needed now was the money, and the house was theirs.

_I hear the fish practically jump into the boat this time of year._ He had always been an avid fisherman, but considering his job, he didn't have a lot of chances to hone his art. _But that'll all change soon._

The neighing of the horse in front of him brought Titus back to the real world. A few weeks ago, Jarl Ulfric, Jarl of some city in Skyrim, had started a rebellion against the Empire. Of course, with the Empire in the position it was, every available man was deployed to the region, even those who were supposed to retire that week. _Stupid Nords, why'd you have to postpone my retirement for some little title that means nothing? Who even cares about being High King anyway? _

A couple of days ago the Imperial Legion had executed a textbook ambush on Ulfric's personal bodyguard. The battle had been without bloodshed, due to the Jarl ordering his men to surrender immediately. Now they were riding to some village called Helgen. There General Tullius would execute Ulfric and end this blasted war. _Meaning I can go home finally._

The village came into sight, and a sigh of relief came over Titus, no ambush, no escape attempts, nothing. It seemed he would get to go home faster than he hoped. _Suits me just fine._

As the wagon came to a stop, the prisoners slowly got out of the cart, knowing there death waited. The executioner was there and ready. _One swing of that axe, and you, Titus Cassius, are a free man._

…..

A dragon! Of all the things the divines could have done for him, they sent a dragon to stop his last mission from being complete. Now Titus was cursing all of the divines, the Daedric princes too. The dragon had swept down from the mountains as some brown-haired Nord was about to meet his end. But now, instead, a dragon was destroying everything and everyone inside the village. Luckily, Titus hadn't been in the immediate area of the execution. _ Thank my lucky stars for that, I don't think anyone made it out of there alive. _Now he was running, no sprinting, with all his might towards the Keep. General Tullius had issued the order after five of the men went down in a row.

He had made it inside with a couple of the other legionaries. The rest had stayed behind to make sure all the civilians were safe (or as safe as you can be during a dragon attack). Titus had been the last one in, right after Hadvar, which was good. _That boy can keep a cool head. That'll get him a high position one day._ Titus walked up to Hadvar, who was addressing some minor burns, and gave him a pat on the back.

"You Nords sure know how to throw a welcome party!" Titus said with a grin on his face.

"Well I'll tell you right now, this party wasn't my idea." Hadvar responded with an equal grin.

The Captain finally made it into the keep. She was short, and stocky; not too pretty but could beat you into saying it. _And she has a temper to match her height_. This last thought put a smile on his face, but he quickly suppressed it, the Captain wasn't one for humor.

"Alright, what are you all standing around for? We need to get out of here now!" It wasn't a question, it was an order. Immediately, all thirteen of the Legionaries started moving deeper into the keep. There was an old escape route, courtesy of one of Skyrim's countless wars. As the group kept moving, the dragon seemed to continue his attack, as if there was anything left to destroy. The old keep shook with every pass the dragon made, but Titus kept up his nerve. It was what he was trained to do, and twenty years of practice had made him a master. The group entered a small circular room with three doors; one leading outside, the one they came from, and the one that lead deeper into the keep. Something was wrong about the room though, but Titus couldn't put his finger on it. Then it happened.

They sprang from everywhere, it seemed. Titus couldn't tell how many there were, but that didn't matter. Titus unsheathed his sword and charged one of the attackers, a young Nord with dirty brown hair and a battle-axe. The Nord swung wildly; obviously this was his first fight. _And his last._ Titus swung at the wooden hilt of the battle-axe, breaking it in half. The Nord's face was one of shock, but then it changed to terror as Titus went in for the kill. The last thing the Nord ever saw was Titus's blade piercing through his leather armor.

As Titus finished his kill, he noticed the others had done the same. Only one of them was hurt, and that was just a scratch. They continued on, going deeper and deeper into the Keep. They passed the torture room, where they found two dead comrades, and one dead Stormcloak. Continuing on, they reached the hole in the wall that was the beginning of the escape tunnel. They moved on a little further, until they heard voices, thick with Nordic accent.

"We charge as one" were the Captains orders. At her signal, all fourteen of them charged into the room yelling at the top of their lungs. The sight that awaited them was not a good one. There were at least twenty Stormcloaks, all armed and ready for a fight. Titus saw some of the Nords with bows fallback a little. _If they get their bows armed, this'll be a massacre. _So Titus Cassius's mission changed from watching a Jarl's execution to potentially dying so his fellow Legionaries could have a fighting chance. _Forgive me Arianna. _The old man charged with everything he had left, ignoring everything except the two archers. The first one never saw what was coming as Titus tackled him, driving his blade into the man's chest. The time it took for Titus to get up was enough for the second archer. Titus was still on his knees when the Stormcloak swung, missing only because Titus rolled out of the way.

Now back up on his feet, Titus, like a mother bear protecting her young, yelled and charged the archer. They locked blades, with Titus getting the better end of the deal. He kicked the Stormcloak in the knee, prompting the Nord to falter with his blade. This was all Titus needed. He raised his blade over his counterpart's, and stabbed the Nord in the neck. The archer slumped to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

Titus turned to see how his comrades were doing. Without the archer support, the Nords were being butchered, due in part to the majority wielding battle-axes; great for attacking, horrible for defending. Titus took all this in quickly, and started to run over to the rest of the battle to help his fellow Legionaries. He never got the chance. As Titus ran towards battle, an axe-blow dealt from an unseen attacker split open the back of his head. Titus fell to the ground, and with his vision quickly fading, raised his head to see who the attacker was. It was the brown haired Nord bound for the chopping block earlier.

When Titus awoke his vision was blurry, but he could tell he was outside. The face in front of him was Hadvar, and the Nord's expression wasn't optimistic.

"It's mortal, isn't it Hadvar?" Titus stuttered out between breaths.

"Aye, that it is." the Nord replied.

"How many of us made it out?"

"Five of us made it, including you. Why'd you have to go and get yourself killed on your last day of work, my friend?"

Titus Cassius looked at him with his fading eyes, and with his last breath, whispered "So that others may live."


End file.
